I have the Kitchenaid grinder others referred to. I use it for all sorts of things -- spices, flax seeds, oats... Pretty much everything BUT coffee (I have a burr grinder for that).

I love the cleanup on the Kitchenaid. The deep removable grinding cylinder really helps.

Before this one I'd had a grinder given to me as a gift; similar to the Krups, but store-branded from Gloria Jean's. The motor on that eventually burned out, but I found it wasn't hard to clean with a little bit of bread or rice. Not nearly as convenient as the current one, though.

I believe the grinder you are talking about is the Kitchen Aid BCG100. They seem to be discontinued, but a google search did turn up suppliers who still stock them. The cup in which you grind the spices is stainless, but the cover is plastic.

I wish I had leaned about clove oil and plastic grinders... I just ruined my little Bodum C-Mill coffee grinder. Not only is the cap cloudy, but the clove residue on the inside rim has fused with the plastic (looks like black ABS?) I tried wiping off the residue and the plastic smeared off with it! To the trash it goes!

Next time you think you've ruined something made of plastic, go to an auto parts store and ask for the plastic polish they use to clean motorcycle windshields. My husband scrubbed a polycarbonate wine glass with a Scotch-Brite and I thought it was ruined. But the plastic polish restored it nicely.

Dear Sirs,
I wish khow if with the KRUPS SPICE GRINDER is it possible to pulverizing sugar, for making fine POWDERED SUGAR.
Or do you have other GRINDERS suitables for to pulverizing the sugar?
Thanking to you for your kind attention, I remain you.
M LAROSA

Dear Sirs,
I wish khow if with the KRUPS SPICE GRINDER is it possible to pulverizing sugar, for making fine POWDERED SUGAR.
Or do you have other GRINDERS suitables for to pulverizing the sugar?
Thanking to you for your kind attention, I remain you.
M LAROSA

I routinely make small batches of superfine sugar by grinding normal granulated sugar in the Krups coffee grinder.

I was just about to grind some whole cloves in my brand new Krups grinder. I had just ground some cashews and was looking for some ideas to clean the device... I came across this site and read about the problem with grinding cloves. I was lucky to find this site; otherwise, I would've probably gone ahead and ground some cloves and possibly ruined my brand new grinder!

Re: Krups coffee grinder as a spice grinder.
I don't grind cloves or allspice, yet my grinder is not only turning color, but the plastic is slowly grinding away and disappearing. Seems that this particular grinder with its plastic parts CANNOT be used as a spice grinder, if you expect it to last! I had ground a lot of other spices in it, and can conclude that the plastics are not abrasion resistant enough. Coffee beans yes, spices NO.

These are Coffee Grinders First for the most part but, they are cheap & provided you have one reserved for Grinding Coffee you can use these to grind spices! But keep in mind that they aren't meant to run for long periods of time or they over heat & burn out! But again they are cheap Sooooo!
Has anyone heard of an outfit from India called Sumeet Centre Inc.? Williams & Sonoma briefly sold a product of theirs called a "Sumeet Multi Grind" & that baby will grind spices, puree nuts (Almonds,filberts,etc.),Coconut, anything. It's good for Asian, Mexican, Indian (as in India), any cooking you want to do. It's got a 400 watt motor in the Multi Grind & they have a bigger one that has a 750 watt motor in it! The Multi Grind with the 400 watt motor is around $90.00, that's not real cheap but not real expensive either. Anyway I thought I'd mention it, I just found out about it on the internet earlier, I'm going to try to get one as soon as I can, you might want to check it out too! Oh Well! That's it for now Chiliheadtoo out!

Yes, Cloves and Allspice will generally react with the clear plastic (generally polycarbonate) cover/lid of your coffee grinder. SOLUTION: Option A: live with it. Option B: to clean it up, use a good grease-cutting cleaner like Simple Green, to get rid of most (80%) of the oil compound that has attacked the plastic; Scrub with scotchbrite or steel wool; polish the interior with a good grade of plastic rouge and a muslin buff. Returns the clear to clear. The 'bowl' of the grinder is mostly stainless, so, if you don't immerse the thing, you can clean most with a bit of simple green and then wet towel to 'rinse.'

I was just thinking but if you have any Experience with AutoCad(Engineer?) Then maybe you should just model it and upload to Shapeways or Ponoko and have it printed out in Plastic/metal or whatever you like. on Shapeways you might even be able to get it printed in glass or gold plated... lol

This happened to me this morning. I had a flash of thought that maybe I should use my pestle and mortar for this, but don't want to deal with the hassle of taking them out of the cupboard. I grind it with my coffee grinder and ruined the plastic lid. I immediately went online and found your site. I'm now still kicking myself over it.

The plastic lid of my non-Krups grinder became quite scratched and cloudy in appearance when I tried to grind fenugreek seeds, which are like tiny pebbles. I've since decided to let the industrial grinders do the work for me and simply purchase fenugreek powder instead.

"Fenugreek?" you say? It is simply a MUST and an essential component of curry. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

Facing the same problem, I did this same way...
First, I put some rock salt in and ground it to dust. This mostly got rid of the clove smell and remaining discoloration. I washed the lid with water to remove the remaining salt. I wiped down the inside of the lid with a rag moistened with acetone. (Careful you don't use too much or the whole thing will melt!) This smoothed out the dings left from the rock salt. Wash it again with hot soapy water, and you're left with a once again useful grinder. Note that this does cloud up the clear plastic cover, which doesn't matter to me.